After Boris Johnson: Choosing the next prime minister
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 14 July 2022
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Just six candidates are left in the race to be the next Conservative Party leader and prime minister. They're now battling to make it to the final two. But the eventual winner will be chosen not by MPs or by the public, but by the party’s members. So what are the dividing lines? And just who are the people with the future of the country in their hands?
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Guests:
- Tim Bale, Professor of Politics, Queen Mary University of London.
- Daniel Finkelstein, Times columnist and Conservative member of the House of Lords.
Host: David Aaronovitch.
Clips: Sky News, BBC News, Channel 4 News, LBC.
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Transcript
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| 0:29.0 | instead of taking on the road, maybe even taking a nap. |
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| 0:49.0 | You won't take part in choosing the next Prime Minister unless you're one of a relatively small group, a member of the Conservative Party. |
| 1:08.0 | Tory MPs have to whittle a field of candidates to lead them and the country down to two by the end of next week. |
| 1:16.0 | A number of your colleagues have actually said that they wondered whether you might think about standing. |
| 1:22.0 | I'll be straight with you, Robert. Yes, I will. |
| 1:25.0 | We need seriousness and integrity back in our government. It's time for a clean start. |
| 1:30.0 | Right now, the hopefuls are juking it out for support. |
| 1:34.0 | Penny Maudent has just launched her leadership campaign. She has tweeted to say, |
| 1:39.0 | our leadership has to change. It needs to become a little less about the leader and a lot more about the ship. |
| 1:45.0 | I will have no part in a rewriting of history that seeks to demonise Boris. |
| 1:51.0 | I've been very lucky. I've self-made. I am the beneficiary of the British dream, but I am wealthy. You're absolutely right. |
| 1:59.0 | It's when the final pair emerge that Tory party members will pick the winner, your Prime Minister. |
| 2:06.0 | I actually came to a conclusion that another candidate had the right policies. |
| 2:10.0 | Politics is brutal though, isn't it? |
| 2:13.0 | But who exactly are these members? What will sway their votes? |
... |
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